Date, walnut and dried apricot cake
Filled with dried fruit, grated carrots and parsnip, and chopped nuts, this gently spiced cake is delicious with Mascarpone icing
SERVES
8
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
15
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
75
MINUTES
Ingredients
200g self-raising flour
240g caster sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp powdered cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
50g dried apricots, chopped
50g dates, de-stoned and chopped
50g walnuts chopped
220ml olive oil
125g carrots, grated
100g parsnip, grated
3 eggs
To ice:
75g butter, softened
255g icing sugar
225g Mascarpone cheese
Method
Heat your oven to 180°C and line an 8 inch round loose base or springform tin.
Sift flour into a bowl and mix with the rest of the dry ingredients.
Add the oil, grated carrot and parsnip and stir.
Add the eggs one at a time and stir. Finally add the vanilla essence and stir once more
Pour the mixture into your tin and spread it evenly. Bake for 1¼ hours. Stick a skewer into the centre, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked, if not put it back into the oven for five minute intervals.
Cool before removing from tin and allow to completely cool on a wire rack.
Slice the cake into three discs and spread a thin layer of icing on each disc then place them back together. Ice the top and sides of the cake.
